The present application relates to a passenger constraining apparatus for constraining a passenger seated on a vehicle seat with an inflatable belt.
A passenger constraining apparatus for constraining a seated passenger with an inflatable belt is known (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-312439 (the '439 publication), which is incorporated by reference herein). The apparatus has a shoulder anchor arranged on a rear side of the seat with respect to the vehicle and a passenger constraining belt to be passed through the shoulder anchor and pulled around a front side of the passenger. At least a portion of the passenger constraining belt which is arranged around a lateral side of the passenger's head is an inflatable portion.
The passenger constraining apparatus of the '439 publication described above includes a shoulder anchor mounted to an upper portion of a pillar member placed obliquely on the rear side of the vehicle seat so that a passenger constraining belt passed through the shoulder anchor is pulled around the front side of the passenger seated on the seat.
The passenger constraining belt includes a shoulder belt section and a lap belt section. The shoulder belt section is drawn obliquely from the shoulder anchor near the lateral side of the passenger's head and around the front side of the upper body of the passenger to a portion near the lower end and on the other side of the vehicle seat. The lap belt section is continued from the lower end of the shoulder belt section and drawn along a lateral direction so as to cover the abdominal portion of the passenger. In the '439 publication, the shoulder belt section is configured with an inflatable bag-shaped belt. The bag-shaped belt is arranged so that an upper end side thereof is positioned around the lateral side of the passenger's head. In the same publication, the lap belt section is also configured with the inflatable bag-shaped belt.
When the vehicle collides, falls on its side, or the like, the shoulder belt section and the lap belt section are inflated to constrain the passenger. At this time, the upper end side of the shoulder belt section around the lateral side of the passenger's head, i.e., between the passenger's head and a side surface of a cabin, is inflated. Accordingly, the passenger's head is prevented from directly hitting onto the side surface of the cabin or the like.
The inflatable portion of the above-described shoulder belt section or the like is preferably inflated to a position as high as possible and arranged around the lateral side of the center of gravity of the passenger's head or in the vicinity thereof. In order to do so, it is conceivable that a large capacity inflatable portion is employed. However, in that case, a high-output inflator is required